How is the broken rice restaurant visited by a world-famous chef 11 years ago now?

A time of carrying broken rice

Broken rice restaurant No. 1 of Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan (70 years old) has existed for more than 60 years, located in alley 150/1 Nguyen Trai, Ben Thanh ward, district 1, HCMC.

Ms. Lan is the second generation after her mother to keep the broken rice selling business. Ms. Lan's mother was born in Long Xuyen (An Giang), then got married and moved to Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) to make a living.

“Long Xuyen has a specialty called broken rice. My mother is a native of Long Xuyen so she cooks broken rice and pork skin rolls very well. In 1963, life was difficult, my father was not home, so my mother had to try selling broken rice.

Unexpectedly, her broken rice with pork skin dish is loved by many people, including celebrities," said Ms. Lan.

In those years, the alley in front of Mrs. Lan’s house was still a dirt road. The surrounding houses were sparse, with tiled roofs and were shabby.

Ms. Lan’s mother placed a pair of broken rice poles in front of the house, along with a few old stools. At that time, broken rice was only served with pork skin and sausage, not with the full range of dishes like today. However, her mother’s broken rice pole quickly became famous, and many diners came to visit.

Ms. Lan remembers the early days when her mother used to carry a pair of shoulder poles to sell broken rice in front of the house. Photo: Ngoc Lai

“At that time, Saigon did not have many places selling broken rice. My mother’s rice stall was located in the center, near printing houses, editorial offices, theaters, and coffee shops. Therefore, artists, journalists, etc. conveniently stopped by to eat.

They got used to it and found it delicious, so they came to support me regularly. Artists Thanh Duoc, Phuong Lien, the parents of Cai Luong artist Thanh Hang and other famous artists at that time also ate my mother's broken rice," Ms. Lan proudly said.

At that time, Mrs. Lan was about 9 years old, running around helping her mother serve food and wash dishes. In addition to doing chores, she also took the time to memorize her mother's secret recipe for cooking broken rice.

Her mother taught her how to cook the fish sauce to make it flavorful and have an eye-catching brown color. The way to make pickles and scallion oil is also very unique.

In the 1980s, Ms. Lan started to practice selling additional side dishes such as: meatballs, braised eggs, grilled ribs... Long Xuyen broken rice gradually "lost its roots" and became Saigon broken rice.

Although the side dishes later were delicious, they still could not surpass the restaurant's traditional pork skin and sausage. Pork skin and sausage are two side dishes that Mrs. Lan had to make herself to feel secure.

Every day, Mrs. Lan struggles alone to cut several kilos of pork skin and lean meat into thin strips to make pork skin. She also shreds radishes to make pickles, makes sausages, and minces meat to make meatballs...

In particular, Mrs. Lan cooks rice directly on the stove, without using a steamer. This method wastes a lot of rice and burns the rice. However, the rice grains are not as watery and bland as steamed rice.

With a huge amount of work, Ms. Lan had to wake up at 3am and work hard until late afternoon.

Although many of her customers are famous people, she still decorates the space inside the restaurant in a simple and ordinary way. When the reporter visited, the restaurant had a number of artists coming for lunch, including artist Quoc Thao, a regular customer.

At first, the broken rice restaurant only had 2 dishes: pork skin and sausage. Later, it added braised eggs, fried chicken...
Photo: Ngoc Lai

Going abroad to visit children and grandchildren

Mr. Martin Yan came to have dinner at the restaurant. Photo: Martin Yan - Taste of Vietnam

In 2013, Ms. Lan's family's No. 1 broken rice restaurant was chosen by Mr. Martin Yan - famous chef of the cooking show Yan Can Cook, to be introduced in the show Martin Yan - Taste of Vietnam (Discover Vietnam with Martin Yan).

Ms. Lan said that before Mr. Yan visited the restaurant, a female employee from the TV station came to ask for permission. Although she did not know who Mr. Yan was, she still happily welcomed him to the restaurant to film.

Ms. Lan is meticulous in every step of food preparation. Photo: Ngoc Lai

The next morning, Mr. Yan and a group of about 40 people visited the restaurant. The group spoke to each other in English and Cantonese (Chinese).

Knowing a little Cantonese, Ms. Lan excitedly chatted with Mr. Yan. At this point, she guessed, “Mr. Yan must be a famous person.”

Mrs. Lan really liked Mr. Yan's humorous and cheerful personality. She herself was fond of fun, so this meeting was an extremely interesting memory for her.

After that, Ms. Lan's No. 1 broken rice restaurant was introduced in episode 3 of Martin Yan - Taste of Vietnam program. Chef Martin Yan praised the wonderful broken rice dish and happily enjoyed it with diners in Ho Chi Minh City.

Mrs. Lan is very proud every time she looks back at the pictures of Mr. Yan's visit. She also prints related articles and hangs them on the wall of the shop.

She respects Mr. Yan as well as all the other customers of the restaurant. Therefore, the restaurant has special customers who have been with the restaurant for decades, from father to son. Many people who have settled abroad, every time they visit their hometown, stop by the restaurant to eat broken rice.

Mr. Hai Nguyen has lived in the US for more than 10 years. Every time he returns home, he always stops by Com Tam No. 1 restaurant for a meal.

"I've been away for quite a while, but every time I visit the restaurant, Ms. Lan still remembers what I eat. The meatloaf here is homemade by the owner, I find it beautiful and has a unique flavor," Mr. Hai shared.

Thanks to the restaurant, Mrs. Lan was able to do business and raise her children to be successful. When her husband and children went to Australia to study and settle down, she still chose to stay in her hometown.

Mrs. Lan cooks from 3pm until late afternoon. Photo: Ngoc Lai

Every year, she spends about 3-6 months in Australia visiting her children and grandchildren. Therefore, she usually sells from October of the previous year to May of the following year.

Around April 2024, her daughter called and asked Mrs. Lan to come over early. At the end of May 2024, she put up a sign saying she was temporarily closed until September 2024.

“I put up a sign saying I would be taking a 3-month leave, but my children and grandchildren always wanted me to stay longer. I missed home and the broken rice shop and insisted on going back. But if my children didn’t buy me a plane ticket, how could I go back?”, Ms. Lan said.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Ms. Lan was stuck in Australia for 3 years. She had to find all kinds of jobs to help her miss her shop less. She cleaned the house, did laundry, cooked, baked…

This year, Ms. Lan hung a notice board announcing that she would be off from May 26. Photo: Ngoc Lai

"Every year, I stop selling for 3-6 months but customers still don't forget. The restaurant has a number of regular customers who are addicted to broken rice, so there's no fear of unsaleable products," Ms. Lan confided.

Ms. Dang Kim Loan (61 years old, District 1) said that she has been eating at Ms. Lan's restaurant for many years and found the food delicious. After the restaurant closed for several months, she ate at other restaurants and found the food not as delicious.

So, Mrs. Loan told the restaurant owner: "You go home early, we are waiting to eat the food you cook. If you stay too long, I will be angry."

Listening to the customer's instructions, Mrs. Lan smiled and nodded continuously. For her, it was luck and happiness after more than 60 years of trading.

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Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/quan-com-tam-duoc-dau-bep-noi-tieng-the-gioi-ghe-tham-11-nam-truoc-gio-ra-sao-2301781.html